Fish-plate and coupling for railway-rails



(Np Model.)

0. MQOHUNN. FISH PLATE AND COUPLING FOR RAILWAY RAILS. No. 573,442. Patented D60. 22, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

CHARLES MARCUS OI-IUNN, OF POIVERSVILLE, GEORGIA.

FISH-PLATE AND COUPLING FOR RAILWAY-RAILS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 573,442, dated December 22, 1896.

Application filed February 7, 1896. Serial No. 578,361. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES MARcUs OHUNN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Powersville, in the county of Houston and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fish- Plates and Couplings for Railway-Rails, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to joints or couplings for railway-rails, and the object thereof is to provide means for obviating the noise, jar, and jolt caused by car-wheels when in motion striking the open joint of the common squarecut rails, a further object being to provide improved fish-plates and means for holding them in place, and also to provide an improved nut-lock for the nuts of the bolts by which the fish-plates are held in position.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a coupling or joint for railway-rails made according to my invention; Fig. 2, a side view thereof; Fig. 3, a section of a tie and an end view of said coupling; and Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4 4, of Fig. 1, showing the end of one of the rails in full lines.

In the drawings forming part of this application, A and 13 represent the abutting ends of two railway-rails, and in the practice of my invention I cut away the adjacent sides of the heads of said rails at an inclination or angle, as shown at O. I also provide two coupling or fish plates D and G, and the body portion of these fislrplatcs are formed so as to conform to the vertical portion H and the base-flanges h of the railway-rail, and the coupling or fish plate D is provided on its upper side with a triangular cross portion or head (1, which is triangular in form and adapted to closely fit within the space formed by cutting away the adjacent sides of the heads of the rails Cb and B. I also prefer to form integrallywith one of the fish-plates G a bottom plate g, on which the base=flanges h of the rails rest, and the bottom plate g projects at the opposite side, as shown at 9 and forms a support for the fish-plate D, and I may also provide a tie-plate K, of the form shown in Fig. 3, which is adapted to support the plates 5 5 stitutes a perfect nut-lock and prevents the nuts M from coming off or coming loose, and in practice this tie-plate is held in place by the spikes P, which are driven into the tie R in the usual manner, and said spikes also opcrate, as shown in Fig. 3, to securely hold the fish or coupling plates D and G and the rails A and B in position upon the tie.

By means of the coupling herein described I not only provide a secure connection and support of the nuts of the rails, but I also provide means whereby the depression thereof and the jolt and jar occasioned by the passage of the car-wheels thereover are obviated, and it will thus be seen that I accomplish the object of my invention by means of a device which is simple in construction and comparatively inexpensive.

Having fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent-- The combination with the ends of abutting railway-rails, the adjacent sides of the heads of which are cut away at an angle thus forming a triangular space, of coupling or fish plates, one of which is provided with a triangular head which is adapted to fill said space, and said coupling or fish plates being formed so as to conform to the vertical body portion of the rails and to the base-flanges thereof, and one of said coupling or fish plates being provided with a bottom plate which forms a support for the baseflanges of the rails, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony thatI claim the foregoing as my invention I have sign ed my name, in presence of the subscribing witnesses, this 16th day of January, 1896.

CHARLES MARCUS OHUNN.

Witnesses:

M. A. EDWARDS, R. N. I-IoL'rzcLAw. 

